A fast-growing Denver-based compliance company recently raised $2 million.
Founded in 2015, Rethink Compliance provides companies with customizable compliance and ethics training, programs and educational content. It works with businesses of all sizes — from Fortune 100 companies to startups — and across industries.
In addition to keeping its clients compliant, Rethink Compliance aims to save employees time. Unlike traditional online compliance courses that can run for 40 minutes or longer, Rethink programs typically range from two minutes to 22 minutes, Rethink CEO and Founder Kirsten Liston said.
Rethink even built analytics and data collection into its courses so customers can see how well their employees are retaining information and understand the program's overall effectiveness. It also pairs the data with a consulting offering to help each customer dial in their employee training and programs.
The recent funding comes as growth capital from Dallas-based VC firm Cypress Growth Capital. Rethink received $1 million in funding and will garner an additional $1 million if it hits specific growth markers.
“We deliberately looked for growth capital funding that wasn't dilutive,” Liston said.
In the compliance industry, it's common for a new company to form, build up its client base and then sell to a private equity firm that then dismantles the company, Liston said.
Liston didn't want to do that — give up equity in her company or raise private equity and sell. Instead, she took growth capital from Cypress.
Rethink, which has been profitable since its inception, plans to use its recent capital to continue building a digital training library. Liston said the library generates about 70% to 75% of Rethink's revenue.
Some of the funding also went toward adding three people to Rethink's sales and marketing team. The company will continue growing its sales and marketing team. It now has the ability to hire additional staff when a new customer signs on rather than waiting until the client pays, which can take a few months, Liston said.
Rethink currently has 42 employees across 16 states. Eight employees are based in Colorado.
“Kirsten and her team have done a terrific job growing Rethink to this point,” Pat McCaffrey, a partner at Cypres Growth Capital, said via email. “With additional capital, their deep domain knowledge in compliance and ethics training and their differentiated, client-centric delivery model positions them well for even greater growth.”
Rethink has landed on Inc. 5000's list of fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in America for the past three years. The company has increased its revenue by 194% from 2019 to 2022, according to Inc.
Rethink was also named a finalist in the Denver Business Journal's Fast 50 awards under the small category, which includes businesses with annual revenue between $5 million and $10 million.
